WASHINGTON 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, September 17.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Camilo Pascual struck out thirteen in nine innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  Pete Richert pitched nine innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts.  Fred Valentine was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The game:  The Senators opened the scoring in the third when Valentine walked, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Howard's single.  The Twins had only three hits through five innings, but in the sixth a pair of two-out walks were followed by a Mincher single to tie it 1-1.  In the tenth, Don Lock's two-out single brought Valentine home with the go-ahead run.  Zoilo Versalles opened the bottom of the tenth with a walk and was bunted to second, but a pair of fly outs ended the game.

Of note:  Versalles was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Rich Rollins was 1-for-4.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3.  Bob Allison was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 94-55.  Chicago won, cutting the Twins' lead to 9.5 games.

Notes:  Nossek played center and Hall moved to right, giving Tony Oliva a day off.  Oliva was used as a pinch-hitter and was 0-for-1, dropping his average to .317...I remember Pete Richert as a fine relief pitcher for Baltimore, but before that he had a few good years as a starter, mostly with Washington.  He made the all-star team as a starter twice, in 1965 and 1966.  1965 was his best year, as he was 15-12, 2.60, 1.19 WHIP.